Adjusting To Freedom
by Little Bakeneko
Summary: Three siblings raised their entire lives underground finally obtain freedom. They have to learn new things just to get through the day. Watch Sachi dive headfirst into freedom. Rated M for implied situations and later chapters.
1. The Escape

I panted heavily, sweat dripping down my face. My tail swung back and forth, and my ears were flat to my head. Across the room, my two brothers were watching me, not allowed to participate. A blow from a fist nearly hit me before I ducked, flipping backward and away. I wiped my shoulder-length brown hair from my face.

"Very nice, at least one of you little snow leopard freaks has talent."

I bared my teeth at Kakuzu, and charged at him. He easily dodged and blocked my strikes, and again I wished for some sort of blade. How I'd love to just slice him to pieces, him and Hidan. How I wished I could weave my signs without being shocked by the damn collar around my neck.

His threads wrapped around me and tossed me at my brothers, who caught me easily. Their ice blue eyes, which matched mine, stared down at me.

"Thanks Seiko, Isao." I said to my older and younger brother. The smile they shot me matched each other, like everything else about them. The same shaggy blonde hair, same pale skin, the same face, our fathers face. The only difference was the age, Seiko being nineteen, Isao being twelve, and me in the middle at fifteen.

Kakuzu approached us slowly. "Alright, that's enough training for today. You're coming along very nicely Sachi, we'll be able to use you soon enough. Your brothers however, are useless."

I snarled at him and attempted to lunge, but they held me back.

"It's not worth it." Seiko said before releasing me. Kakuzu led the way back through the hideout to our cell. We froze in the entrance, the cell was already occupied with over a dozen men and women. I wanted to back away; I've never met anyone besides Akatsuki before. "Who are they?" Seiko asked.

"Prisoners, to be sent to Leader as he needs them. They'll be sharing your cell from now on." He pushed us inside and locked the steel door behind us.

The prisoners stared at us. No, not at our faces, at our ears and tails. I licked my lips nervously and went to the opposite side of the cell with my brothers. Sliding down the wall, I sat in between them. We stared across the room at each other, nobody sure what to say. I've never meet people before; I was born and raised underground. But I'm curious.

"You're...you're from outside?" I addressed all of them, and hoped someone was brave enough to answer.

One woman was. "Yes, we are."

"What does it look like?"

She looked surprised. "You've never been outside?"

I shook my head. "I was raised here."

"It's beautiful outside. There's grass and trees and animals. The sky is blue in the day, and black at night. But even then it's beautiful."

I leaned forward, anxious to hear more. The door opened and interrupted her. Hidan stood in the opening.

"I've already trained today." I told him.

But he wasn't looking at me, he was looking at the prisoners. At the nice woman. He strode towards her and grabbed her arm, yanking her up. She cried out and struggled. A man lunged at Hidan, who easily knocked him back. I lunged next, pulling her away and standing in front of her. Hidan smirked. "Well, well, the little freak has a noble side. How sweet. But one of these women is coming with me. I won't kill them, I just need them for a few hours. A little… ritual I need to perform."

I stood firm. "You can't have them."

"Well someone's got to volunteer."

I caught Seiko's eye, and he must have seen what I was thinking. "I'll volunteer." I said, just as he jumped up. Isao followed behind him as they went up to Hidan.

"You're not taking anyone." Seiko growled, close to Hidan's face.

He only grinned back. "You know you can't do shit about it." He grabbed my arm and kicked Seiko away. Isao looked between him, me and Hidan. I nodded towards Seiko and mouthed "It's okay." I let Hidan drag me out of the cell. I may have volunteered, but I wasn't going to make it easy.

He shoved me back into the cell a few hours later, and I fell on my knees. I heard his chuckle before the door was sealed shut again. My brothers rushed over to me and moved me to sit against the wall. Isao was shaking and he leaned against me. Seiko was staring, horrified, at the bruises on my body, and the blood staining my thighs. The woman hesitantly came over to me with her husband, and kneeled beside me. Her eyes were red, like she had been crying. "Thank you so much." She squeezed my hand, "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Tell me more about outside."

* * *

><p>He kept coming back, every couple of days. He always tried to take another woman, but I couldn't let him. I couldn't let anyone else suffer if I could prevent it. The stories Kotone, the woman, tells us about the outside make it better. I've learned so much about the world, the lands, and the villages. Kakuzu was complaining that my training was suffering, but he never did anything. Today was particularly brutal. I couldn't even walk, Hidan had to drag me back and throw me into the cell. I laid there as several hands moved me around, propping me against the wall. My hair was matted to the left side of my face with blood. As someone pulled it away I hissed and opened one eye. Only one. Kotone covered her mouth with her hand, my blood on her fingertips.<p>

I chuckled weakly. "Is it that bad?"

She only nodded, and my smile dropped. She ripped a piece of fabric from her dress and dabbed gently at my face. I looked over at Seiko. "What's it look like?"

"You may have lost that eye. And there's going to be a lot of scaring on that side."

"Well damn, there go my good looks. Hey, maybe he'll lose interest." I was the only one who laughed.

"How can you possible joke about this?" Seiko asked, furious.

I rolled my eye. "Because you and Isao are too serious all the time, just like mom. Our lives suck, I'm trying to make it better." And because I have to protect them, I can't let them see me suffer.

"And you don't take anything seriously enough! You aren't invincible, Damn it. You're vulnerable just like everybody else. You can't keep doing this, you can't save everybody. You're just like dad, and that's why they killed him."

I narrowed my eye. "Then I will die knowing I tried. I can't just do nothing."

* * *

><p>I opened my eye weakly, and the room swan before me. I groaned and moved my hand to my face. My hand came away sticky, covered in blood and yellow ooze. Yup, defiantly infected. Isao was at my side instantly, dabbing at my face. I knocked his hand away, it hurt too much. "Will this kill me?"<p>

He couldn't look at me. "Maybe."

Shit. I sighed and attempted to stand up. Isao helped me and I nudged Seiko with my foot. He woke with a start and stood quickly. "We're escaping."

He blinked a few times. "We're doing what now?"

"You heard me. Isao says I could die. First, I'd rather not like to die. And second, if I die, who'll protect you guys. So we're getting out of here."

"How?"

"I'm blowing the wall down."

"But what about the collar?"

"I'll work through the pain. Now go wake everybody else up."

Seiko stopped arguing and went over to the prisoners. Kotone and her husband stood in front, just behind Seiko. I pushed Isao over to them and faced the furthest wall. Taking a deep breath I weaved the signs. Immediately the collar sent volts of electricity through my body. I clenched my teeth but managed to mutter "Shooting Star Jutsu." My fingertips glowed white and I aimed them at the wall. Fist-sized balls of white fire shot out colliding with the stone. Dust and rubble rained over all of us and I collapsed when the pain stopped.

I heard their gasps and opened my eye. I gaped at the hole. Light was flooding the cell, the brightest thing I've ever seen. The ground was green with grass and the sky was so blue. It was so beautiful. I stumbled out first, and stared up at the sky. It was so wide, so high, it made me a bit dizzy. Though that could just be the infection and the fever. Seiko came up behind me and stared too.

"It's beautiful." Isao had come up to my side.

Seiko put a hand on my shoulder. "We have to get moving, they'll be after us soon. Kotone and the others can't run like us."

I nodded and weaved more signs. The shocks were so bad I fell to my knees in pain. Still I managed to bite my thumb and say "Summoning Jutsu." In a cloud ofsmoke a troop of horse-sized cats had appeared before us. The white twins in front leaned down to me.

The female licked my cheek. "Sachi! It's been years, what's going on?" Her brother looked on anxiously.

"I'll explain on the way Aneko, right now we need your help."

They each nodded and we managed to fit all the civilians on their backs. "Lead the way." said her brother Katsuro. Seiko started running and we all followed him. As we gained speed, the three of us started running on all four limbs, our tails streaming behind us and our ears flat. "Seiko, where are we going?" I called.

He looked back at me. "Home."

* * *

><p>It took hours to get to our destination. Honestly I'm not sure how I managed to make it. My head is throbbing and my wounds burn. I just want to sleep. I looked up and saw gates. I turned to Seiko. "Where are we?"<p>

He looked back and smiled at me. "Like I said, home. Konohagakure."

"Oh, that's nice." I stumbled a bit. "I'm going to faint now." I hit the dirt almost immediately. My eyes closed involuntarily as people swarmed around me. I had the feeling of being lifted before I drifted off.

I was warm, nice and cozy. I snuggled deeper into the soft material. Wait, what material? I opened my eye and hissed at the color. White, everything was white. It hurt like hell. I rubbed my eye and my fingers brushed against bandages. I touched my left side, it was wrapped heavily. It didn't burn anymore, it barely even hurt. I looked at my hand and froze. I touched my arms and hands. Not a speck of dirt or grim or anything. I was clean, for the first time in my life I was clean.

"Wow I'm so pale, like a ghost."

"You're awake!" Isao launched himself at my bed and wrapped his arms around me. I hugged him back fiercely. He let go of me and studied my face. Sniffing quickly he smiled, "No infection."

I grinned toothily. "Guess that means were in a hospital." Stretching I moved off the bed, and caught sight of the window. I walked over to it and stared, just stared at the sky. There were little things flying around, they must be birds. I'm so grateful to Kotone right now, she told us so much.

Isao came up to my side. "I've been staring outside all day, just trying to get used to it. It's so big and bright, I can't believe it. The underground was so dark, but I guess I never really knew that until now."

"I want to go outside." I saw a tree, not that far from the window ledge. I wonder if I can make it.

Isao was watching me. "Sachi, I know what you're thinking. Don't do it. You just woke up, you need rest."

I laughed, "I've rested enough. I spent my life underground, I want to stretch my legs." I slid the window open and took a deep breath of the air. It was so fresh out here, full of interesting sounds and smells. I hopped up in the ledge, thankful that the hospital outfit was pants and a shirt, and that they had cut a little hole for my tail. That'll make balancing easily. I crouched and pushed off with my legs. I cleared the leap easily and landed in the tree branches. I ran my hands along the branch, and then through the leaves. I inhaled deeply, and couldn't help but purr. It's been so long since I've purred. "This is wonderful!" I turned back to the window, wanting Isao to join me.

Seiko was standing behind him, fuming. I heard other people in the room. They must have entered right after I jumped. "Ah crap."

* * *

><p><strong>My first story published, yay! I hope you liked it, and if not then oh well. I'll continue the story of Sachi and her brothers as soon as I can. There's so much for them to learn I can't wait myself. Reviews are, of course, welcome but not necessary, and if you want to see the siblings learning something specific that you want to see, no matter how trivial, tell me! I'm open to ideas at all times, and it could be funny having them all trying to learn random things. Anyway, lots of love to you all!<strong>

**-LB**


	2. Coming Home

I made myself comfortable on the bed, between my two brothers. Across the room were three women who had introduced themselves as the Fifth Hokage Tsunade, her assistant Shizune and her student Sakura. I liked Sakura, she seemed friendly, and I've never seen pink hair. She raised her hand and waved it back and forth. I cocked my head, what did that mean? I copied her but she must have read the quizzical expression on my face. "It means hello." She said, "And also goodbye."

I smiled, "Thanks, I'm new at this."

Tsunade was still staring at me, and I cringed. "About the tree…"

"That was quite a jump."

"Oh…well that's a mixture of genetics and training." Her eyebrows raised and I tugged my brother's fuzzy ears. "These genetics." They both swatted my hands away and I laughed.

Tsunade sat down on the bed across from us, "So, who wants to start?"

I grinned, "Oh let me!"

Seiko clamped his hand over my mouth. "Let me do it Sachi, I'm older so I remember more."

I glared and licked his palm. He snatched it away with a curse and glared right back. "Right, anyway. Our names are Seiko, Sachi and Isao. Our parents were Chizue and Akio, both dead. They lived here, were married here, and had me here. When I was four and mother was pregnant with Sachi, we were kidnapped by Orochimaru and kept in the Akatsuki hideout."

Sakura gasped but Tsunade didn't seem too surprised. "I suspected. I remember another girl who Orochimaru took and changed, a bit like you three."

"Yes, he did it to us from the DNA of a giant snow leopard Yamayuki, a summoning animal. The process took away our ability to effectively mould chakra, which of course disappointed Orochimaru, but it also meant we couldn't escape. Mother was pregnant during the process, and when Sachi was born she already had the ears and tail, but she could mould chakra. Orochimaru trained her hard, and our parents made sure to teach her as many of their jutsu's as possible. I think he wanted to use her as a hunter, to capture more victims. Then he made our parents have another baby. But before he was born Orochimaru left the Akatsuki. I still don't know why, but I wasn't sorry. Mother died giving birth to Isao, and when father tried to get us out, they killed him. Isao can mould chakra to a certain level, but not as much as Sachi. They kept us, and let us raise Isao. They took over Sachi's training, probably keeping us two just for her. It was all very bearable, until a few weeks ago. They brought in prisoners. One member, Hidan, tried to take the women every few days, but Sachi wouldn't let him. She…she…" He slammed his fist against the wall.

I felt Isao jump but I was staring at the floor. Damn it, why do they have to know? I feel powerless enough, knowing that he forced me. They don't need to know that too.

"What did you do?" Tsunade was pegging me with her eyes.

I sighed, "I let him take me instead. It wasn't a hard decision, it was me or the women."

"I'll kill him." Seiko was glaring at the wall, so I swatted him with my tail.

"I get him first. I want to repay the favor for destroying my eye." I remembered the three others in the room. "Anyway, the wound he gave me got infected and since I really can't die and leave these too alone, I decided we would escape. So I blew the wall down and summoned my ninja cats to give the civilians a ride. And that's it. Oh hey, how'd you get that collar off me?" I really want to get off this subject.

"We had ninja from our weapons division look at it, and they got it off while you were asleep." Tsunade answered. "Are you willing to give us all the information on the Akatsuki members?"

"Of course, I'd love to see those bastards caught, though to be honest we don't know a lot."

"Any information is useful."

* * *

><p>Sakura was leading me through a hallway of the hospital I tried to ignore the stares and whispers of the patients and doctors. "Do you find me odd Sakura?"<p>

Sakura looked back at me. "Honestly, at first I did. I mean, ears and a tail on a human is pretty odd. But it makes you unique. And you're so strong, doing what you did. I really admire you now."

I smiled widely, "Thank you Sakura." She nodded at me and we finally reached the room. There was a doctor waiting for me, and I got very nervous. Sakura closed the door and led me to the doctor. At least it was a woman.

"Hello, you must be Sachi. They told me the short details of your situation and asked that I examine you."

"Ok." She led me to the table and had me lay back. Sakura moved to my side and I smiled up at her. "You're the first girl I've met who's my age. I hope we can be friends, I've never really had one before."

She took my hand and squeezed. "I'd like that. You should meet some of my other friends, they'll really like you."

"You think so."

"I do."

The doctor stood up. "Okay, we're all done. There are some abrasions that are healing nicely, so it's not really a big concern. I'd just like to take a blood sample, in case you contracted anything or may be pregnant."

"I can't get pregnant, at least not now. I have a different reproductive system then you. I go into heat every six months, that's the only time I can get pregnant."

Sakura giggled, "Lucky you, only every six months." The doctor laughed too and I smiled. This wasn't so bad.

* * *

><p>A few days more in the hospital, then they told us we could go. "So they're letting us stay?" I asked Sakura, who had brought clothes for each of us. We had to cut a tail-hole, but it was better than hospital attire.<p>

"Of course. You have the right by birth from you're parents. Plus you gave up all the information about Akatsuki, so you're defiantly not loyal to them. Oh, here, I brought you something." She pulled out a black sash from her pouch.

I took it from her. "What's it for?"

"You can take off the bandages, but I thought it would be better if you protect that eye anyway."

"Oh, thank you." There was a small mirror on the wall and I walked over to it. Starting from the top, I unwrapped the bandages from my face. Keeping the eye closed I examined the scars. There were several, long thin slices that stretched from my hairline, over the eye and down to my jaw. I opened the eye and grimaced. It was still there, but completely milky white. No sight from there at all. Closing it, I wrapped the sash around my face. It didn't cover all the scarring, but at least most of it. I turned back to Sakura and my brothers, they were all staring at me. I grinned widely, "Well I'll need to train more to figure out new strategies. At least that'll be fun."

Seiko and Isao shook there heads, and Sakura smiled. "You're so optimistic, you remind me of my friend Naruto."

"Well these two are no fun, so it leaves it up to me."

"Anyway," Seiko interrupted, "Where exactly are we going?"

"I'm going to show you around Konoha, then to you're home."

"We have a home?" I've never been inside a house, Kotone said they were nice.

"Yeah, Tsunade-sama found your parents old house. It was sold a while ago, but they people moved out. It was for sale again, so she bought it for you. You can work off the cost."

I stared at her. "We have a home." I whispered. We actually had a place to go, where our parents lived. I felt the grin spreading across my face that mirrored my brothers. "Well then let's go!"

* * *

><p>Stop staring at me. Stop staring at me. Stop staring at me. I repeated this mantra over and over again in my head. On the outside I was grinning, but I wanted to flinch every time someone stared at me. But honestly I suppose it could be worse, they could be screaming. "This place is huge." I wanted to see everything all at once, but there was so much.<p>

"You'll find you're way soon enough." Sakura reassured, looking back at us. "You're house is just a few blocks away."

This caught our attention. "We're almost there?" She nodded and continued leading us through the streets. The streets got quieter as we walked, with fewer shops and more houses popping up. Finally she stopped in front of a simple two story house with a small front yard.

Holding up three keys, she turned to us and said, "This is it."

With a bounce I snatched one of the keys and dashed to the door. I jammed the key in the lock, rushed inside, and promptly fell flat on my face. "Fuck!" I pushed myself up and looked behind me. A few feet from the door the floor rose a few inches. Seiko and Isao were peering through the door while Sakura was laughing in the yard. I stuck my tongue at her when she came up.

She gained control of her laughter. "You're supposed to take off your shoes and leave them here."

"Why?"

"Because it's polite and clean."

I kicked off my sandals and laid them beside my brothers. "There are a lot of things to learn." I muttered. Finally we entered the first room. It was large, with wooden floors, an area rug, a couch, table and several love seats. "They left most of the furniture here." Sakura said, "Which by the way made it more expensive."

"Remind me to thank Tsunade-sama." I lead the way through the first floor, finding a nice bathroom, large eating area, spacious kitchen, and quite study. "We have to go shopping. We must make a list!" Rooting through the desk in the study I uncovered a pad of paper and a pen. "Yosh!" Seiko and Isao rolled their eyes but I didn't care, I loved trivial tasks. Pen to paper I went back through the rooms and recorded everything we needed, from books to food to flowers.

Seiko looked at my list. "Flowers?"

I blushed. "I like flowers, I want a garden."

He smiled at me, and nodded. "Anything you want."

We made our way upstairs, only three rooms and a closet. "Three bedrooms, perfect." Each room was furnished the same, one large bed, a dresser, a closet, and a bathroom. Only the paint and carpeting was different. Navy and white, green and brown, and red and black. I took the last one. I added more things to my list, like clothes and toiletries. When I joined the others back in the hall, Seiko took the list.

He groaned, "This is so much stuff."

I laughed, "Well we don't need it all today, just some of it. We only have a bit of money from Tsunade-sama and we need food first, I'm starving."

"Let's go have lunch first then." Sakura suggested, "Some of my friends are probably out, and I'll introduce you. Then we can fill you're fridge." We locked the door behind us and followed her down the street, back into the busier part of town. "What would you like to eat?"

I blinked, "I don't know."

She looked back at us, "What?"

I scratched the back of my head, "Well I don't really know anything about food. We didn't really have any choices of scraps when they fed us." I laughed. No one else did, of course. I must be the only one who thinks I'm funny.

"Oh, well then I guess I'll pick. Somewhere simple I guess." She led us through the streets, to a small shop. Ichiraku Ramen, it read. Sakura pushed aside the flaps and we entered. Only two other customers were there. "Shikamaru, Choji, nice to see you guys." They turned and looked over to her, and their eyes were drawn to us.

I waved my hand, just as Sakura had done. "Hi, I'm Sachi, and these are my brothers Seiko and Isao."

They continued to stare and the silence became unbearable. Even the owners were twitching. Sakura growled and went over, smacking the two in the back of the head. "Don't be rude."

"Ah, troublesome woman...Sorry, I'm Shikamaru, and this is Choji." His friend waved at us before continuing to eat. Sakura rolled her eyes and gestured for us to sit. We did, and were handed menus.

"What would you like?" The cook asked.

"Umm, I'm not sure. I've never had ramen before."

There were choking sounds down the counter and Shikamaru patted Choji on the back. When he caught his breath, he turned to us. "Never had ramen! Where have you been living, underground?"

Sakura turned to yell at him but Seiko interrupted. "Yes." He got kind of bug-eyed and Shikamaru muttered, "Good job Choji."

"Wow, it just got really awkward in here. I love it!" Turning back to my menu, I stared intently. "This may take me a moment, they didn't teach us to read that well." The awkwardness deepened and I smirked. I turned to the chef, "What do you recommend?"

"How about a large bowl of miso with pork?"

"Sounds great, one for each of us!" I inhaled the delicious aromas wafting around the room. I caught my brothers doing the same and smiled. Three steaming bowls were handed to us. I paused before diving in. How do I eat this? I looked over to Sakura and watched her break apart two sticks, and use then to pick up the noodles. I looked over at Seiko and he shrugged, grabbing a pair of the sticks. I grabbed one too, broke them apart and just stared at them. How the hell do you use these?

Sakura tapped me on the shoulder. "Need help?" I laughed and nodded, so she grabbed my hand. She positioned the chopsticks between my fingers and my brothers copied. After a few minutes of fumbling and a lot of dropped noodles, I managed to eat my bowl.

I slurped the leftover broth and put the bowl down with a sigh. "Delicious!" Everyone else was calmly finishing their bowl while I fished around for my wallet. Pulling out a couple of bills for my food, I offered them to the owner.

He shook his head, "Don't worry about it this time. It's your first bowl of ramen and you chose us, so thank you."

"Really? Thank you!" I repeated my thanks as we left the shop even though he kept waving it off. "That sure was nice of him." I said to them. "That's defiantly my new favorite spot."

Shikamaru and Chouji were staring at me incredulously. "Where'd you find this girl? She acts kind of like Naruto, and her brothers look like him. It's a bit creepy."

"Hey! I'm not creepy." I stuck my tongue at Shikamaru, but he just shook his head. I turned to Sakura. "By the way, who is Naruto?"

"I'll tell you another time. Right now we have lots of other things to do. You need to get evaluated, Seiko needs a job, and Isao needs to go to school. And you guys need to go shopping."

I groaned, "But we just got here." But nobody paid any attention to my whining. So instead I just followed after them, grumbling. After all, shopping couldn't be that bad.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey, second chapter already! I've really got to learn to pace my myself or I'll run out of ideas and have nothing to publish. I hope you enjoyed their first day in Konoha. It's very light-hearted, but I promise to get darker in the next chapter. After all, I love creating horrible situations and devastating emotions. So look forward to that.<strong>

**-LB**


	3. Sensei?

I banged my tail against the door, hoping that one of my brothers was home. My arms and the arms of the girls that followed me were weighed down with shopping bags. The door swung open and I meet Seiko's startled gaze. "Help me." I mouthed. He grabbed some of the bags on my arms and let me stumble inside. Immediately I dropped them all on the floor and collapsed onto the couch. The rest of the girls followed me inside, placing the bags on the floor with more care. I turned to glare at Sakura. "I don't like shopping anymore."

She waved her hand at me dismissively. "Oh please, this wasn't so bad. We got everything you guys needed in one shot, so now you should be set for a while."

Ino, Tenten and Hinata began sorting through the bags. Sakura had invited them to come along because I'd never gone shopping before and therefore "didn't know what I wanted." Her words, not mine. And though it was exhausting, I have to admit, it was kind of fun. I watched them separate all the bags and couldn't help but smile. At least I made a bunch of new friends.

Ino handed Seiko almost half of the bags. He grunted as they weighed him down. "Here, these are for you and Isao, we bought clothes for you and all the stuff for your bathrooms." Hinata was dragging a bunch of them to the kitchen, the ones filled with food and cookware. I hopped off my lazy butt to help her. As we put all the food and stuff away, Tenten was putting the cleaning equipment in the closet, Sakura was putting the décor all around the house, and Ino was separating the last of the bags. Finally we were left with only my clothes and toiletries, and my new gardening equipment. The gardening equipment was placed in the little shed in the backyard, and they helped me organize my stuff in my room.

"Okay, get out now and let me change." They laughed and went downstairs to wait for me. I stripped out of the clothes Sakura had let me borrow and pulled open my top drawer. I blushed; it was stuffed with neatly folded "lingerie," as they called it. Why they insisted I have so much I'll never understand. Crafty perverts. I picked a matching black set and pulled my new shinobi uniform from my drawers and closet. It consisted of a long-sleeved mesh shirt under a black tank top with a star on it, black shorts with a tail-hole, tall black boots, a black sash for my eye and fingerless gloves. I loved the boots because if you tapped them just right, a little spike protruded out of either the heel or the toe. I fixed the weapons packs around my waist and my thigh, and then headed down stairs.

The girls were all mulling around in the kitchen, Seiko in the center. His face was red and the girls were prodding him with questions. I slipped in with them. "What's going on?"

Sakura turned to me and saw my outfit. "You look fantastic, like a whole new person." I blushed and rubbed the back of my head shyly. "Anyway, your brother was telling us about his new job and suddenly he started blushing. There's something he's not telling us."

I turned to Seiko, who was eyeing my outfit with brotherly disapproval, but when he heard Sakura he began blushing again. I raised an eyebrow, Seiko never blushes. "What happened?"

"Nothing, just a normal first day. I sold some weapons, repaired others and talked to customers."

I was still suspicious. Nothing about working in a weapons shop should make him blush, unless… "You met a girl!" I smiled widely and his face turned redder. "Yosh! My brother met a girl." The girls around me squealed, but only I noticed the look that came across his face. He didn't just meet her. "Did you choose her?"

He sighed and nodded and I slapped my hand to my forehead. "Really? We've only been here a week and you've already chosen a mate?" The girls had stopped squealing and were looking very confused. I decided to explain. "We don't choose partners the same way you do. Our reproductive cycle and hormones are different than yours. Choosing our mates is out of control. The minute Seiko saw her, he was a goner."

Sakura seemed fascinated. "That's kind of romantic. What about Isao, he's in school right now. Could one of the students be his mate? And what about you?"

"Seiko's too young right now, but he'll be mature soon enough. Probably by his next birthday. It's different for me because I'm a female. It'll happen mildly when I see them, then when I go into heat it really sticks, plus it has to be the right guy." I turned back to Seiko. "So, what's her name?"

He blushed again, "Hana Inuzuka."

Hinata gasped. "That's Kiba's sister. He's my teammate, and he's very protective of his family."

I groaned. Great, I'm already pissing off my future comrades. And I haven't even met them yet. "Well, there's nothing we can do about it. Did you tell her?"

He shook his head. "No, but I did ask her out. She said yes, so we're having dinner tomorrow."

I couldn't help but smile. He sounded so eager. As long as my brother was happy, I could deal with any trouble. I herded the girls out of the kitchen, much to their disappointment. "Don't tell anyone." I warned, and then turned back to Isao when he called.

He was holding a rectangular box. I took it and opened it up. The metal gleamed and I grinned. "Isao! How'd you get this?" Inside was a kusarigama: a small sickle with a chain and a weight on the end. Orochimaru and the Akatsuki trained me with this a lot.

"It cost me my day's pay, but it was meant for you. Plus I did get a discount, being his only apprentice."

I hugged him tightly, purring. "Thank you." He squeezed me back before I let go and I hooked the kusarigama onto my belt. I darted out of the kitchen and followed the girls outside. We said goodbye to each other and they all wandered off, except Sakura.

"I have to go to Tsunade-sama for a lesson, and she wants to see you. We'll walk together." We maneuvered our way through the streets and toward the Hokage building. I've already begun to find my way around this place. We entered the office together. There was a man in a green jumpsuit and a flak jacket, possibly the oddest man I've ever seen. I liked him immediately.

Tsunade looked up from her paper work. "Sakura, good you're here. We'll start our lesson soon. And Sachi, I've assigned a jonin to assess your skills. I don't have doubts you can be a genin; instead I want to see if I can make you a chunin. We need chunin for more missions, and I think you'd do well. So I've chosen Might Guy to watch over you." She gestured to the strange man.

He grinned and gave me a thumbs up. I swear his teeth sparkled. I grinned back at him. "Hi, I'm Sachi."

"Hello Sachi, I am Might Guy, Konoha's Sublime Green Beast Of Prey." Riiight. "We'll begin training immediately. Follow me." He promptly launched himself out the open window while I gaped. I looked over at Sakura who just shrugged. Shaking my head I peered out of the window. Guy was standing at the bottom of the building, waiting.

"Why not?" Grinning at Sakura I waved goodbye and followed, pushing off the ledge. I soared for a moment, passing over Guy-sensei before somersaulting and landing on my feet.

He jogged up to me. "Very impressive leap Sachi. Let's see how youthful your legs really are." He ran ahead leaving behind a trail of dust.

"I love a good race!" I ran and caught up with him quickly, my legs pumping. My tail streamed out behind me and my ears were flat to my head. I looked over to Guy, who gave me a grin. We ran through the village, over buildings and weaving through the crowded streets, careful not to hit anybody. He stopped when we reached a grassy training ground. I paused bending over to try and catch my breath. "That was fun."

"Ah good, you have a youthful spirit." He kept giving me that grin; it was starting to get weird. "Now you can meet one of my former students." His clone appeared from the trees, jumping down and landing beside him. He gave me the same grin. "This is Rock Lee."

I looked between them. Things just got really weird. Awesome. I stood up. "What do you need me to do, Guy-sensei?"

"Simple. Fight him."

"I can do that." I prepared myself. Legs spread, one in front, one behind. One hand forward, palm up and fingers curled, the other behind my head, fingers also curled. He eyed my elongated nails, pointed right at him. My tail swung slowly in a wide arc and I turned my head slightly to center my eye. He took his pose and I waited. "Your move, Lee."

"I will try to be gentle." He smiled and came at me, faster than most others. He tried to kick my legs out from under me, but I jumped and gripped his shoulder. Trying not to dig my nails in, I vaulted over him and wrapped my tail around his eyes. When I spun I unbalanced him and kicked his exposed side. But he grabbed my tail and flung me away. My foot only nicked him in the side before I ripped my tail from his grasp and landed on my feet. We stared each other down before charging at each other. This may take a while.

We stood not far from each other, panting and covered with dirt. My legs were shaking with the strain of jumping so much, but he was too fast. My only chance of escape was jumping because I could do it better than him. But he looked just as tired as I felt. He had multiple scratches and tears in his uniform from my nails. I tried to be careful, but in the excitement I may have nicked him a couple of times.

Guy-sensei stepped forward. "Alright you two, that's enough. I could let you go on for hours, but you must save your youthful energy."

Lee looked disappointed. "But Guy-sensei, it was just getting exciting. Sachi is a worthy foe, she is very skilled."

I held my hands up. "Sorry Lee, but I'm exhausted. How about another time though. This was fun." He relented and we agreed on another day. He left a bit reluctantly, but a stern order and some sort of ridiculous challenge about laps on his hands sent him scurrying away.

Guy-sensei turned back to me. "Well your taijutsu skills are excellent. Now I have to assess the rest of your skills."

I groaned. "Today? I don't know how much chakra I have left."

He shook his head. "No not today. Tomorrow at noon, right here. Come full of youth!" And with a grin and a thumbs up, he ran off.

I looked up at the sky; the sun was beginning to set. Hopefully Seiko was making dinner, I'm starving. I walked slowly back through town, trying not to draw attention to myself. So many people still made me nervous. I didn't like so many eyes on me. But people seemed to have gotten used to me, or they were being more respectful by not staring. Either way, it was nice. Finally I reached home, and the scent of food made my nose twitch. I smelled fried fish and curry rice. Seiko was having a lot of fun trying to cook. I took off my boots and found Seiko in the kitchen and Isao sprawled on the couch. I plopped down on another sofa. "How was school?"

He looked over to me and grimaced. "It was alright, but kind of weird. There were a lot of other kids, and they all stared at me. Eventually they stopped, and Iruka-sensei is really nice. I guess they'll get used to me."

"Make any friends?"

He shook his head. "Not yet."

"Well you will." Seiko came out of the kitchen. "You're smart and kind, it'll be easy. Now come on and let's eat." Dinner was eaten around the table fairly quietly before we all decided to go to bed. It was pretty good food for Seiko's cooking, and I was warm and full.

I stripped out of my clothes and left them in a pile by my bed. I entered the bathroom, turned on the shower and waited for it to warm up. The steam began to pour out of the shower and fog the mirror. I wiped away an area so I could see my face. The wounds were not quite healed, still pink and a bit swollen. It distorted that half of my face. I breathed out shakily, and I let the ugliness in me take over.

Here, with the door locked, I could let my mask fall away. I could drop the grin, the jokes and the sarcasm. Here, I can cry, and curse and moan. I looked into the mirror at the scars. They would always be there, mocking me, reminding me of what happened. I stepped away from the mirror and into the water. I hissed as it burned across my skin, but I kept it hot. The burning helps. I let the water pour over me, across my back, down my breasts, past my stomach and down my legs. I stared down at my thighs. They were still bruised, and covered in welts and cuts. The water stung and my legs started to shake. I lowered myself down to the floor and brought my knees up to my chest. I wrapped my arms and tail around myself and lowered my head. My skin was turning pink from the heat but I didn't care.

Too long I've bottled up all my pain. Here in the shower I could let my tears fall without noticing. I felt disgusting, used and dirty. Hidan raped me, again and again and no matter how much I put on a brave face it's still there. It's always there, under the surface, this overwhelming disgust with myself. I let him do it, no matter how much I struggled and fought, I volunteered, and kept on volunteering. Even if I slaughter him with my bare hands it won't fix this. This hate I feel for myself will always be there, mocking me. _Why didn't you escape sooner? Why didn't you fight harder? Why did you let him do it?_ And no matter how often I remind myself I tried, it keeps reminding me that it wasn't enough.

The cooling of the water made me lift my head. I got to my feet and shut it off. Wrapping a towel around myself I stumbled over to the mirror again. I wiped off some of the steam and stared at my own eye. It was my mother's eye, with my father's sparkle. I wonder if they were watching me, and what they thought. Were they disappointed, angry, upset? What would they want me to do? Not wallow in self pity probably. I mentally shook myself, save the pity for another night. Put the mask back on, the one that smiles and laughs. I smiled at myself, letting it fall back into place. Hold the depression back for another day and smile. My brothers depend on me, so I have to be strong. I'll pretend as best I can, for as long as I can. I have to put my needs last.


	4. Attraction

I woke with a start, trembling and kicking at the covers. Remembering where I was I relaxed and let myself lie still. I ran my hands over my face and into my hair, feeling the cooling perspiration. I climbed out of bed and made my way to the shower.

Standing under the hot water I tried to recall my dream. There were images mostly, the hideout, my parents, Kotone, and the Akatsuki members who trained me. But I remember the sounds clearly. My mother's screams as she gave birth to Isao, Kotone's cry of fear, and my own screams as Hidan raped me. They echoed in my head and I clamped my hands over my ears to wait until they quieted. When they did I hopped out of the shower and dried myself off. I put on my outfit and grabbed my gear. Before I left I stood in front of the mirror and smiled to myself. The mask goes back in place.

Seiko was eating in the kitchen, an extra plate of food on the counter. I grabbed it and sat across from him. "Where's Isao?"

He swallowed his mouthful. "He left for school already. I believe he's finally getting assigned to a team. Apparently two other students didn't graduate with the others, so he'll be grouped with them if they all pass." He finished what was on his plate and dumped it in the sink. "I'll see you later, I've got to go to work."

I waved as he walked out the door and shoveled the food into my mouth. Isao was already becoming a genin, this was so exciting. I also put my dish in the sink and headed out, locking the door behind me. I didn't have to meet Guy-sensei for another hour, and I wondered what to do. Sakura was busy with Tsunade-sama, and she was really the only friend I had.

I decided to wander around the village until I found something to do. Hands in my pockets I observed the sights and smells around me. At least people had stopped staring now, and instead they gave me friendly smiles, which I returned. I sighed, becoming bored. Maybe I could find someone I know. I sneezed, someone must be talking about me. I looked around for anyone who looked familiar and saw a quick flash of white eyes. I perked up, was that Hinata? I maneuvered my way forward until I found the eyes again and stopped dead. He was definitely not Hinata. He was gorgeous though. Long black hair, white eyes, a handsome face. I shook myself mentally. What was wrong with me? I've never been attracted to anyone before, but he just begged to be admired. I saw that Lee was with him. "Hoy Lee!" I waved my hand around as he turned in my direction.

He saw me and smiled, waving me over. I approached the three of them, noticing that Tenten was with them. "Sachi-chan, I was just telling Neji and Tenten about you."

That explains the sneeze. "Good things I hope." I turned to Neji, "Hi, I'm Sachi. It's nice to meet you." He shook my hand. His skin was so smooth and warm. Damnit mind, stop that! I noticed he was trying not to stare at my ears. I flicked them and he met my eye. "I'm part snow leopard."

Tenten elbowed him in the ribs. "Staring is rude, apologize."

He flinched from her and said "Sorry."

I managed to fight off the blush that wanted to stain my cheeks. "It's no problem, I'm used to it."

Tenten smiled at me. "Lee was telling us about your match yesterday. It sounded impressive."

Lee grinned. "You should have seen her jump."

"It was a lot of fun. Lee's the fastest person I've met, besides Guy-sensei. I hope I managed to impress him."

"Why would you want to impress him?" Tenten asked.

"Guy-sensei's the one who says if I'm ready for the chunin exams. I have another session today actually."

Lee looked excited. "May I watch Sachi-chan? I'd like to see what else you can do."

"Sure." I grinned, wait until he saw.

* * *

><p>I stood in the center of the training ground. Guy-sensei, Lee, Tenten and Neji were off to the side. I only thought that Lee would be coming at first, but Tenten wanted to come and Neji just kind of tagged along. They were watching me now. Guy-sensei called out to me, "Okay Sachi, give us a demonstration."<p>

I'd only show them a couple. I can't reveal all my secrets after all. I weaved my hands seals then pointed my fingers outward. "Shooting Star Jutsu." I shot about a dozen of them from my fingers and let them fly around the air. Pointing with my finger, I led them in circles around the training ground until I pointed them at a large rock. They collided with it and when the smoke cleared there was nothing but rubble. I smiled over at them. "How was that?"

Guy-sensei came over and clapped me on the back. "Very impressive. A lot of raw destructive power. And what kind of fire was that?"

I put my finger in front of my lips. "It's a secret."

He laughed loudly and went back to stand with the others. "Show us more. Are you sure you don't want a partner?"

I shook my head. "I don't want to burn them." I weaved more seals and then clapped my hands together. "White Flame Whip." There was a white glow in between my palms and a very hot sensation. When I slowly pulled my hands apart, a rope of white fire connected the two. I flung my left hand to my side, disconnecting the line and making it longer. With my right hand I gripped it and held the end above my head. I aimed at a couple of trees to my side and swung. The whip made a satisfying crack every time I swung, and scorch marks dotted the trees. I took aim at one final tree. Cracking the whip I wrapped it around the trunk and pulled. The whip burned through and the tree crashed to the ground. I cracked the whip once more and let it dissipate.

Lee was cheering and Tenten was clapping. Neji was silent, his eyes locked on me. I wonder what he's thinking. I had to fight off another blush. His stare was making me nervous. Guy-sensei came over to me, looking thoughtful. "That was very impressive. So you're a long range fighter? And trained by Akatsuki too." Tsunade-sama would have told him, of course.

"I suppose so. I never really thought about it. My original purpose was as a huntress."

"Original purpose?"

I jumped nervously. The three of them were standing beside me. How did I not here them? It was Lee who had asked. "What do you mean by that?"

My tail bristled with fear. I just met them, could I really trust them enough to tell them? I sighed, they would find out sooner or later. "I was born and raised underground. My family was an experiment of Orochimaru's. My parents both died after he left and we were left with the Akatsuki. They trained me as a huntress, and that was my purpose."

Tenten and Lee both looked horrified. And Neji remained stoic. I wish I knew what he was thinking. Guy-sensei was kind enough to break the silence. "None of that matters now. Sachi is a shinobi of Konoha, and I believe is ready for the chunin exams." I looked up at him, shocked. He was smiling at me. "Although, it will be hard on your own."

I grinned, "No problem. I can do it."

He nodded. "I'll go report to Lady Tsunade." He disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

I coughed and waved it away. Lee gave me a thumbs up. "Way to go Sachi." Tenten nodded and Neji was, of course, silent.

I looked over at him. "You don't talk much do you?"

He shrugged. "I talk when I need to."

I nodded seriously, then smiled at him. "And I talk too much, eh? We're perfect for each other." He blushed and Tenten giggled at him. He looked cute when he blushed. "And handsome too, such a bonus." I waved goodbye as I walked away, leaving Tenten laughing madly and Lee nudging a very flustered Neji. I laughed into my hand as I walked, I've never been that bold before.

* * *

><p>I found Hinata training in a nearby field. She saw me but since I didn't want to interrupt I motioned for her to continue. I sat cross-legged on the ground and watched while she beat on the log. It already had significant wear to it, a testament to how hard she must be training. Finally she stopped to catch her breath and sat beside me. "Hi Sachi. How are you?"<p>

"I'm good, I suppose. But I have something to tell you. Remember yesterday, how I told you guys about choosing mates." She nodded. "Well I think I found mine."

She smiled at me. "That's really great Sachi. But why do you look so nervous?"

"Because it's your cousin." I waited for an outburst and instead was stunned by a squeal.

She was so excited. "I can't believe it. Maybe now Neji-niisan will be happier."

I stared at her. "You're not mad?"

She shook her head. "Of course not. You said it was out of control, I can't blame you for that. And you're a good person, I hope you'll be good for Neji. Did you tell him?"

"I couldn't. I wasn't really sure what it was until I left him. All I wanted to do was go back and see him. I didn't get the chance, plus what would I say?"

Hinata nodded. "That would be difficult to explain. But I hope it'll work out soon."

"Me too."

* * *

><p>"Neji Hyuga, huh? That's very unexpected." Sakura mused over the thought as I walked beside her. I had to tell her of course, she was my closest friend. "He is handsome."<p>

I chuckled. "Yes, very handsome. That's all I wanted to tell you." She and I said goodbye and I left while three kids ran at her. I moved to the other street and saw Seiko in the distance. But why was he wearing orange. Walking up to him I threw an arm around his shoulder and said "Hoy Niichan, why aren't you at work?" I looked up at him and quickly removed my arm. "I'm so sorry! I thought you were my brother."

This guy was my age, and did look very similar to Seiko. I mentally face palmed, how did I not notice he had no fuzzy ears. The guy just smiled at me. "It's no problem. I'm Naruto Uzumaki by the way."

I shook his hand. "Sachi, no surname. So you're Naruto. I've heard a lot about you. Apparently my brothers look like your twins, and sometimes I act like you."

He grinned widely at me and I mirrored it perfectly. The old man beside him laughed. "Naruto, she does act like you. Except for the ears and that tail, she could be your sister."

We laughed and kept walking until we reached a pole. I could tell he wanted to climb it. "I'll see you around Naruto, and make sure to say hi to Sakura." I watched as he jumped to the top of the pole before I wandered off. It was still early in the day, so what to do now?

"Maybe Hinata's done training." I hoped aloud. I made my way towards the Hyuuga estate, insisting to myself that I wanted to see Hinata, not Neji. "You barely know him," I muttered, "and it's not that strong. Not like Seiko. At least, not yet." Finally I ended up infront of the gates. I knocked loudly, shouting "Hinata? You home?" I waited a few moments, but no one answered. I raised my fist to knock again when the door swung open. My fist hit empty air but the momentum carried my forward. I eeped when strong arms caught my waist before I fell.

"I thought snow leopards had amazing balance."

I felt the blush creeping onto my cheeks as Neji helped me stand. I glared at him playfully. "Yeah well you try it on two legs. It's harder than it looks."

He raised an eyebrow skeptically, then shook his head. "What're you doing here?"

I pretended to be hurt. "Ouch, so rude Neji." I spun around and sighed dramatically. "Fine, I'll just go. I'm not wanted here anyway." I started walking away but stopped when I felt his hand on my shoulder. I smirked. "Yes?" I turned back around.

He pinched between his eyes, then sighed. "I'm sorry. Let me rephrase that. How can I help you?"

I grinned widely. "See, now that wasn't so hard. I was looking for Hinata."

"She's not home yet."

I groaned excessivly. "Will she be home soon?"

"I'm not sure."

I pouted. Damnit, now what? I grinned mischeviously. "Can I wait with you then?"

His eyes widened. It was a bit forward, I realized, afterall we did just meet today. But hey, I was bored and he was irresisteble. I wasn't going to pass up this chance. "Please? I won't bother you." I flattened my ears and widened my eye, trying to look cute. With my messed up face, I probably wasn't.

He sighed. "Fine. But if you get too annoying, you're out."

I fistpumped and followed him inside the estate. My jaw dropped. This place was huge. There were houses lining the street, all bigger than mine. And at the end of the street was the biggest house yet. The Hyuuga family must have alot of money. Neji led my towards the last house while I attempted to ignore the stares of the other Hyuugas. They wouldn't have seen me yet, I realized, if they all lived in here.

I let out a breath when we reached the house and closed the door on all those eyes. Remembering to remove my boots, I followed Neji to a courtyard. He sat down on the edge and closed his eyes. I sat next to him and cocked my head. "What're you doing?"

He didn't open his eyes. "Meditating."

"What's that?"

"It's a way to train your mind. Just sit still and close your eye."

I did so. "Now what?"

"Now stop talking and stop thinking."

I shut my mouth, but a million thought flooded my brain. What's the point? How do you stop thinking? When will Hinata be home? Are his parents here? Will they hate me? Should I tell him? My brow furrowed in frustration. This was harder than it sounded. I opened my eye slightly and peered over at Neji. He looked so serene, like there really were no thought going through his mind. I closed my eye again and smiled to myself. This was nice, I decided, being close to him. Sure, maybe I wanted more, but this was enough. At least for now.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey guys, I apologize for taking so long to update, but I've had like no break between work. I'll try not to do that again. I hope you liked this chapter, sorry it's a bit slow but there can't be action everyday. I'll try to give you action soon though. Anyway, I hope you liked my choice of mate for Sachi, I know I do. Love you guys, and write me so I know what you think!<strong>

**-LB**

**2/9/12 - Hey guys, I updated the last part of the story. I got a couople comments on and off the site that Neji was too OOC, and Sachi was a bit too shy. So I read it over, realized they were right, and fixed it. I actually like this much more, and I hope you do too. I'll try to get the next chapter out soon.**


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